Volunteering Opportunity Details

A home-visiting volunteer provides support for a family in the family’s own home, usually spending a couple of hours once a week with the parents and their children. You work with each family to help them in the way they need most. This may be with practical tasks such as escaping from the house, getting to appointments or helping get organised; offering advice and sharing experiences; or supporting parents through emotional issues. By sharing your time and friendship in this way, our volunteers offer families an opportunity to build their confidence, develop new skills and enjoy family life.

Main Duties:Our volunteers are carefully matched to a family with young children and the aim is to build the confidence and independence of the family by:-

Visiting the families in their own home.Offering support, friendship and practical help.Reassuring the families that difficulties in bringing up children are not uncommon.Emphasising the positive aspects of family life.Providing a regular, reliable presence in the family.Drawing on their own experience of parenting to encourage parents to build on their own strengths and emotional well-being which will ultimately benefit their own children.Encouraging families to widen their network of relationships and to utilise, effectively, the support and services available to them within their local community.

Takes place:

mornings

afternoons

evenings

Mondays

Tuesdays

Wednesdays

Thursdays

Fridays

Saturdays

Sundays

Minimum age:

18

Maximum age:

no upper age limit has been specified

Training provided:

All volunteers are required to attend a volunteer preparation course which lasts between 6-7 weeks. This will usually take place one day a week between 12 – 2.30pm. In addition, volunteers will be subject to a PVG check through Disclosure Scotland and satisfactory references.

Out of pocket expenses paid?

No

Experience required:

Volunteers come from all walks of life and are usually parents themselves or have experience of supporting young children and of family life. We concentrate on the values that volunteers hold. We ask that volunteers have:
A positive outlook and be optimistic
Warmth
Empathy
Understanding
An appreciation of differences
An openness to learning
We value people who don’t judge others, people who respect the family’s home and who treat a mother and father as equal.

What is volunteering?

Find out more about volunteering
View our introduction to volunteering page or contact us to find out more -
our experts love helping people of all ages and backgrounds to become volunteers.

Register your opportunity
If you are an Organisation that would like your opportunity to be registered. You can do this by requesting a registration form here.

Help and Support

Call us to arrange an appointment
Give us a call on 0800 389 6046 to arrange an appointment to chat with our staff about what opportunities are available. Meetings can be arranged outside of the office in some cases.

Register with us
Fill out our registration form and a member of staff will then get in touch with you to discuss volunteering options to suit you.

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